resolutions

Remember my floating ornaments (Dec. 7 post)? Christmas is over, the decorations have come down, but look what's up now. These will stay up until I can find something to hang for Valentines Day. : )



Got the (super glittery ... and I didn't even wear disposable gloves to hang them!) snowflakes among the Christmas stuff that was on clearance at Target after Christmas. Total cost for 8: $2.00.

Before I get to the topic of resolutions, I know you want to know who won the DVDs (my last post). Holy cow - choosing 5 winners from over 500 comments? You guys are FUN! So - congratulations to these winners. E-mail me at bhiggins@ckmedia.com and give me your mailing address. I'll ship a copy of my DVD to you.

Chris in Tamarac, Florida
Nicky in Eagle River, Alaska
Kim in Mechanicsville, Virginia
Diane in Prosper, Texas
Deneen in Manteca, California

I'm a goal-setting girl, so I love this time of year to reflect on each area of my life and what I want to work on in each area. And of course I'm 100% successful with every resolution and I never falter with ANY of my goals. Except I missed 4 days of exercising this entire year (wink). But seriously (you know I'm kidding, right?) - I do love thinking about this stuff.

So what would you think about creating a layout a day in the month of January? Lain Ehmann (with Simple Scrapbooks magazine) is ready to help you with the challenge and you can read about it here. I'm thinking it would feel SO good getting 31 layouts done this month! Seriously. That would be SO great. I don't have high expectations of really getting 31 done but I'm sure as heck going to try.

BH DVD

Hope you're enjoying the post-Christmas season. I hit some sales with a few girlfriends on the 26th and I have to say, I'm not a shop-on-a-big-shopping-day type of girl. But we had such a blast. And I'm pretty excited about scoring some great deals. I have always loved a good bargain. Just don't love the crowds. But I think I'm in for a repeat next year. : )

I recently worked on a DVD project, and wanted to let you know that it's now available. You can find the information in the Products section of this website. If you are interested in purchasing the DVD, contact them with the given information. You will have the option to either be able to join the DVD program and start receiving all of the DVDs that we (CKMedia) have been doing with this company, OR if you prefer, you can just purchase my DVD. Just want to be sure you understand that you have the option.



So what is this DVD? Remember the 12 Days of Christmas video clips I did on my blog in November? Okay - MUCH better quality video. : ) I talk about and demonstrate all-things scrapbooking. How I got started, my favorite techniques, my system, favorite theme albums, sketches, other creative projects, and I even take you on a a tour of my home office/creative space.

I have sent this DVD to our two bag winners (see Dec. 17 and 18 blog posts). I have several more to give away. Simply post a comment with your first name & city & state/country and on Monday, I'll randomly choose some people who will receive my DVD.

PS - Are you thinking about your New Years resolutions??

Added note: If you already subscribe to the DVD continuity program, you should automatically receive my DVD, and therefore do not need to order it (unless, of course you just wanted additional copies for gifts or something). : )

merry christmas

Have yourself a merry little Christmas. I sincerely wish you a wonderful holiday, filled with everything you wish for. May you feel the love of our Savior, turn your hearts and minds toward Him, and enjoy your time with family & friends.

displaying Christmas cards

Wow - you guys really want that market bag! : ) I still haven't finished reading all of the cute ideas you have been doing for neighbor gifts, but I'm really inspired with so many great ideas already (for next year)! You guys are so awesome.

So our lucky winner of the striped market bag is Holly (a "southern scrapper"). YAY Holly! E-mail me your address (bhiggins@ckmedia.com).

Some of you asked about how we display our Christmas cards. We tape them to a wall. That's it. And I'm known to leave them up through at least Valentines Day most years because I love seeing so many loved ones in one spot. : )



(Paint color is Oak Harbor, Dunn-Edwards brand)

In our last house, we did this:



Just ribbon and clothespins.

One last note for today: My Best of Becky Higgins Sketches books are on back-order and should be ready to ship again by late January/early February. Some of you have ordered it at CK online and in case you wondered, I wanted to be sure you knew. All customer service questions can be forwarded to orders@ceatingkeepsakes.com.

karlee's stuff shipping already

Wow! You guys REALLY want that market bag, don't you? : )

Thanks to those of you who have already been in touch with Karlee about placing an order for some homemade things. I can't wait to hear how you like them!

Passing along a message from Karlee: She just told me that most Etsy orders were shipped Tuesday night and the rest will go out today. Boy, she really cranks them out, doesn't she!? Amazing. She also welcomes you to email her for custom orders. Her e-mail address is on her homepage. Also note that she has a big batch of new things going on the Etsy site just after Christmas. You'll want to check that out!

I'll announce the winner for the striped market bag on Thursday.

another gift for you

What a wonderful response on Karlee's stuff. The randomly chosen winner is Denise Hunter! E-mail me your address, Denise, and I'll get you that little tote, possibly in time for Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas ... I wish I could bring each of you homemade goodies! But since I can't, Karlee and I want to give away another bag. This time - the market bag!! I will send this very bag to one lucky winner, so post a comment.



If you did something other than treats for your "neighbor gifts" or "friend gifts" ... I'd love to hear what you did, so mention that in your comment.

e-mail me.

Danielle (a "disappointed customer" in Australia - you know who you are) ... will you please e-mail me at bhiggins@ckmedia.com? I have no way to e-mail you.

a-DOR-a-ble stuff to check out

I'm so excited to share someone with you. First - check out this stuff:

market bag


sunglasses pouch


headband


coin purse


church tote


Okay - a brief explanation: The talent behind these things is Karlee Fuchs (pronounced "fukes"). Super talented chick with a heart of gold. Makes the most adorable stuff and it's really affordable too. Oh, and you can throw it in the washer & dryer. LOVE that. You can order from her Etsy shop, or you can e-mail her with a specific idea that you have, or tell her you want something you see here on my blog (notice I put names by each thing) ... and she'll totally do a custom order for you.

Her website is www.karleeskreations.com and there is a link to her Etsy shop from there. If you look at her blog, read her 12/3/07 post for her version of how we met. One of my BF's - Karolyn - heard about a boutique last month and so we went to it (FUN day with Karolyn!) and that's where we met Karlee and her cute friend who happened to be reading her new CK when we went to their booth. NICEST girls. Karolyn and I went nuts over her bags and stuff. Next thing you know, she was making a list ... checking it twice ... of stuff we wanted her to make. We spent a long time in her booth! We were just dreaming up all these things she could make!



Karlee oozes with talent. And so I want you to know about her and have her make something for YOU! Check out her site and feel free to e-mail her directly (her addy is on her site). We wanted to give away a couple fun things, so post a comment (say anything) and I'm going to choose a random winner to receive THIS:

children's tote


Then check back in the next couple days and I'll have something else to give away. : )

new website

My website is up & running & fully functional! Check it out at www.beckyhiggins.com.



Right now it's quite simple & slim, but at least it's a landing place in cyberspace for anyone interested in seeing my "stuff" all in one place ... my blog, my products, a bit of my background ... and even a new recipe blog where I will now post any & all recipes that I want to share (not here anymore).

By the way, my brother Andrew is the talent behind my website - making it work, making it pretty, making it possible to show up on your monitor right now. He's done a fantastic job, and I'm grateful for his work on this project.

well, that just stinks.

This is what I get for leaving my art within Claire's reach.



Little stinker. But it's an easy fix. You can see what this USED to look like (and what it WILL look like again, as soon as I fix it) on p. 72 of the January issue of CK. It's a fun project to do with a child ... or on your own, of course. There's a fun homemade tic-tac-toe game idea on that same page and I loved getting that back from CK recently, because Porter was totally into playing it today.

Thanks to those that have shared pictures of your hanging ornaments/snowflakes/etc. Love seeing the different ideas!

Several of you asked about the organizers in our pantry. The company that makes them is Shelf Reliance (and the product we got is called "CanSolidator"). We got these at Costco earlier this year. LOVE them.

If you had a hard time downloading my Excel file (layouts-to-do) from my last post, just e-mail me (bhiggins@ckmedia.com) & I'll get that to you.

favorite Christmas decoration

I wanted to share my favorite Christmas decoration this year ... floating ornaments.



We hung the ornaments from the ceiling, directly in-line and above our bar, using little screw eyelets & clear thread (found in the sewing section of any store that carries that stuff). If anyone happens to do this in their home as well, please share a picture. I would really LOVE to see it!



Now, answering a few more of your questions:

[ party invites ]

The program I used for Porter's party invitation (Dec. 3 post) is Adobe Photoshop, and it's the same program I use for all of my photo editing (and other creative things) too.

[ bag toppers ]

Also in reference to the Dec. 3 post ... That's just a simple text box in a Word document (or Pages, for those of you Mac users). The font is called Rockwell.

[ printing cards ]

I was asked about printing my hybrid or digital cards. For ME (everyone does their own thing), I am all about having them printed at Costco. I can upload them at costco.com and pick them up in an hour. Easy. And even though I print most of my pictures in a glossy finish (I like the more "crisp" look), I print my cards & invites & things that will be "handled" with a matte finish. If you wanted them to be thicker, you could certainly print them on thicker cardstock at home or at a local copy shop.

[ canadian site ]

Kay asked if she could share a great site in Canada that sells the albums that I use (Oct. 30 post). Absolutely! Go ahead, Kay, and post it here in these comments so all our Canadian friends can check it out. Thanks!

[ stuffing mix ]

For my chicken noodle casserole (May 21 post), I used the Pepperidge Farm "Herbed Seasons" stuffing mix. I'm sure any other kind would be great, too. That's just my preference.

[ e-mail me ]

And old friend from high school posted a comment because she wanted to contact me regarding an upcoming reunion. (Hi Lesley!) So ... If anyone needs to contact me personally, my e-mail is bhiggins@ckmedia.com. I do read every comment that is posted on my blog, but can't possibly respond to it all. I'm sure you understand. : )

[ the layouts-to-do list! ]

Here you go, girls!! It's SUPER simple. A Excel file to keep track of your layouts-to-do. Because I keep family albums, as well as albums for Porter & Claire, I keep track of all of the layouts I want to do in this one file. That way I can see, at a glance, everything.

layoutstodo.xls

This is how I use the running list: I note which album the layout would go in (my chronological books are numbered) or I put a "P" for Porter, a "C" for Claire. The date is the date of the event, or if it's a thematic/non-chronological type of layout, I put the approximate date of where it seems to fit best (ex - "Fall 2007"). The topic - well, it's just obvious what that is. : )

The next few spaces are where I put an "x" if that part of the layout is done ... photos are printed | the pages are done | the journaling is complete. Sometimes I do a bunch of photoshopping for several layouts and get them all printed, so I mark that box, indicating that I have the pictures ready but I still need to complete the page and write the journaling.

I hope this makes sense. I've been using this system for many years and it totally works for me. It's ever-changing, of course. Whenever I think of a fun topic that I want to scrapbook, I immediately add it to my list so I don't have to try to remember it. And of course I keep all of my "obvious-to-scrapbook" topics here, too (birthdays, trips, etc.).

calendar download

Thank you for your feedback about the card kit. You guys are awesome.

If you got your January issue of Creating Keepsakes, you may have seen my "Snow Day Survival Kit" feature. Fun projects for you & the kids on a homebound day. One of the projects I did was this big clipboard, which can hold art or calendar pages or whatever you want. See the article on p. 73 for more details.



Go here to download the 2008 calendar pages (it's FREE) ... even if you use them for something other than the big clipboard idea. : )

postage for Christmas cards

Thank you, Meg, for bringing it to my attention that some people are experiencing an issue with mailing their Christmas cards from my kit.

First of all, I would never try to mislead anyone. We honestly sent the completed cards (assembled, as you would send them) before we made them available for purchase, and had no problems with the postage. Here's what we did to ensure cards could be mailed for $0.41:

- Matched postal regs in weight and size exactly
- Took samples into the post office and had them confirm $0.41 cent postage
- Sent a couple samples from different post offices using $0.41 with both metered and stamped postage. We included a couple papers to represent a family Christmas letter.

In fact, I just got my parents' Christmas card yesterday (they're so cute to use my card kit!). The $0.41 stamp worked like a charm. Yes, they included a picture and their text was printed on cardstock. All of this was included in the card.

So from what I can tell, most of you are NOT having a problem. Thank goodness. Unfortunately there are a few of you who may and I'm very, very sorry about that. Seriously - I'm so bummed about it. It seems to be an inconsistency issue with USPS. You may want to mail the cards and don't ask the post office if you need to pay more because they'll say "yes" and take your money. But that's up to you, and I can't guarantee anything.

It makes me crazy that a few post offices are not being cool about this.

Hey - while we're on the subject, if you have some constructive feedback on my Christmas card kit, I'd love to know. This will help me understand what you like & what you don't for my next card kit. : )

Have a happy day.

simple birthday

Five minutes before I was to leave for my carpool run to pre-school today, I realized that every good mom brings treats to school when their child has a birthday. Right? So I resorted to the fastest-ever, last-minute thing I could come up with a pinch. I was a printing-cutting-stapling MACHINE for those 5 minutes. And still made it to pre-school in time. : )



WAY simple bag toppers. Thank goodness we already had the fruit snacks on-hand! The inspiration for this simple little concoction was already there. This is what we had done for the party favors.



And these were his invites. 100% digital.



Porter's (ultra simple) party was so much fun. Cake & ice cream. Pinada (which David had to finally bust). Presents.

Sometimes simple is best. The kids just loved running around & playing together. That's really the best part. Can't believe how blessed we are to have so many fun friends here. Can't believe our baby's five.